Transportation fills long-empty CIO post

The Transportation Department today named Daniel Matthews as its new CIO, filling a post that has been manned on an interim basis for more than two years.

Matthews said he plans to keep the department's infrastructure and e-government initiatives a priority.

'Our efforts to strengthen the security of the department's critical infrastructure must remain a primary focus,' he said. 'At the same time, we see a great opportunity to assist the public's interface with DOT through enhancing the department's e-government initiatives in areas such as the Business One-Stop.'

Matthews succeeds George Molaski, who left in January 2001. Eugene 'Kim' Taylor had been acting CIO.

Transportation spokesman Bill Mosely said the official position was vacant for so long because the department had simply not found 'the right person.'

Matthews had been a senior vice president for Savantage Financial Services of Rockville, Md. Before that, he spent 22 years at Lockheed Martin Corp., previously Martin Marietta Corp., where was a vice president.

'Dan's more than 30 years of experience in information technology will be invaluable to the department as we continue to enhance the efficiency and security of our information systems,' Transportation secretary Norman Mineta said in a statement.

Dan Mehan, CIO of the Federal Aviation Administration, said he agrees with Matthews' plan to focus on cybersecurity. He said he plans to work closely with him on FAA's security projects.

'With e-gov, cybersecurity and IT capital planning as important efforts for us, we expect the teaming to continue to achieve significant results for the FAA and DOT," Mehan said.